Marion Bartoli plonks Jelena Dokic to move into the last eight - Apia International Sydney 2012
French world number nine, Marion Bartoli, plonked the local star, Jelena Dokic, at the Olympic Park Stadium on Tuesday during the second round clash of Apia International Sydney tournament. A straight set, 6-0, 6-3, triumph for
the French broke the hearts of millions Aussie fans, who were at the arena to support their representative. Bartoli took an hour and 14 minutes to nail down her opponent at her home soil. Both these players were squaring off for the first time in their professional
career so it was obvious that French tennis ace will definitely try her googlies on the underdog wildcard participant, Dokic.
Bartoli dominated the show from the word go. She started with a break and never looked back from there. Three consecutive serve breaks, coupled with a hat-trick of successful serve games, sealed the first set win for the French.
Majority of the viewers who came to support their local tennis ace left the arena after the first set because they knew it would be a waste of time to witness a one-sided encounter, with the visitor thrashing Dokic all over the place.
Dokic on the other hand seemed to have not settled from her internal disputes with her father. She is playing at the court but her mind is rambling somewhere else. She just threw her racquet to the ball and never seemed to have
strived hard to dismantle the confidence of her opponent. She was just hoping against the hope that her competitor would make a mistake that will earn her the most awaited triumph.
Second set started in sloppy manner and both players held their serves to push the score to 1-1. Bartoli struck the fourth gear in the third game, as she broke her opponent’s serve but stunningly Dokic replied back with a break
in the next game to level the scores at 2-2. It seemed like she had gained some momentum but her serve was broken once again in the fifth game by her rival.
Both players held their serves afterwards and the Aussie was running out games to break back and level the scores. In the ninth game, local contestant had to hold her serve to keep the set alive but she failed to do so and lost
the match in the most dismal manner. It will probably have an impact on her upcoming performances in the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open.
Marion Bartoli moved into the quarters and faces the third seed Victoria Azarenka.
Tags: